Review: Carnifex – Until I Feel Nothing

Rated:

3/5

Less than a minute into opener “Deathwish,” Carnifex roar their singular purpose on Until I Feel Nothing: “Fuck the world.” This is pure deathcore, with every single genre dogma intact: It’s 32 minutes of lurching, open-note breakdowns, screams mixed with gang shouts, and frantic guitar noodling. This is either the Carnifex you know and love, or the Carnifex you love to hate.

Those who love to hate them won’t find anything to point them in the other direction on this album. The band still transitions between riffs with all the subtlety of a rhino charging through a brick wall, the symphonic passages sound like they were recorded in a cave, and you’ll find things more original than their riffs in the cereal aisle.

But on this fourth outing for the Californians, they’ve further refined the art of crafting catchy hooks. The stuttering guitars on “A Grave to Blame” exude pit-stoking fury, “Dehumanize” is rife with infectious runs, and the title track surges with palpable ferocity. Carnifex’s music, like most deathcore, will rarely hold up to fine-grained musical scrutiny. But this isn’t music to be carefully considered and criticized. This is music made for destruction, and Carnifex continue to surpass many of their peers in their ability to bring the mosh. CLARKE READ